Colors Project

For the Colors Project, we had to create six small square compositions that each were made up of different color schemes. I simply painted different pictures from the color groupings required: Primary, Secondary, Intermediate, Monochromatic, Complimentary, and Analogous.

Art Gallery - Scale and Proportions Analysis

One of my favorite painting in the gallery was "The Boatman" by Abby Fasciano. The first thing that stands out of the painting is how small it is. But, the artist was able to create a lot of interest and detail even though the canvas was such a small scale. The proportion of the boat in the foreground and the sun in the background creates the most depth in the painting. Because the sun is so small and the boat is fairly large, the composition clearly conveys a sense of space.

Also, with a closer look, there are other proportions that might go unnoticed but give a very strong sense of balance in the painting. The size of the bright sky in the top half of the painting and the dark river in the bottom half are almost exactly the same size. Also the practically symmetric tree lines on both the left and right sides create a sense of balance as well. With both of these aspects, the entire painting is almost symmetrical from all sides, except for the boat which is the focal point. Overall the entire painting is well composed and uses scale and proportion excellently to create depth and to add interest.

Larger Than Life Project

For our project, me, Joel, Josh, Grace, and Devin chose to make a Super Nintendo Controller. The final project is 6 by 2 1/2 feet large with about a 3 foot long cord. The controller is made up of mostly styrofoam and poster-board paper. All of the pieces are mainly connected with glue and tape, and the entire project is painted.

This project was a fairly large challenge for all of us, mostly because of how hard it was to find the right materials and work out how to construct it. We started out by gluing three pieces of 2 inch thick foam together in order to create the right depth of the controller, and we cut the pieces out with a styrofoam cutter. In order to create the right surface texture, we glued poster-board paper to the surface and painted over that. We painted the lettering and logos on with stencils and glued the buttons on top of rolled up newspaper in order to make them pushable. I learned a lot from this project simply because I had never worked this extensively with these materials, and in order to figure out how to make it from scratch was a challenge.

Texture/Collage Project

For my texture project, I decided to make a copy of Picasso's Three Musicians. The project is a collage of many different fabrics and papers mounted on a 12x15 foam board.

After I printed the picture out, I started by making a large 12x15 sketch of the painting, trying to get the proportions and shapes right. I then got most of the materials that I needed, which was one of the hardest steps of the project. It was difficult finding materials that matched the colors of the piece, while at the same time trying to equally balance them between tactile and visual. Then, in order to cut out the shapes correctly, I first traced the shapes with tissue paper and then pressed down with my pencil the outline of the shape through the tissue paper into the material I was using. This created the correctly shaped outline of the piece that I needed. I did that for all of the shapes and then glued them onto the foam board with glue sticks and tacky glue.

I learned I few things with this project, but I also used some of the lessons that I learned from the Shape Project. Through trial and error I learned the best way to transfer the shape from one picture onto a piece of material and which cutting utensil is best for cutting different materials. I learned from the Shape Project that glue stick work best for gluing paper and tacky glue is good for thicker materials. Overall this project was very enjoyable and I am happy with the finished product.

Color Symbolism

Link: http://www.colormatters.com/symbolism.html

This article describes the way certain colors can symbolize different things for different people. It points out the two main ways that color can convey different meanings: natural associations and physical or cultural associations. While some colors will mostly communicate the same emotions or meanings to anyone because of natural association(like blue for calm water or sky and red for fire or blood), colors can also mean different things to different cultures because of social traditions and customs. The article explains that it is import to recognize how colors can communicate meanings in order to make successful designs.
I learned from this article that it is very important to understand the way different colors like red, blue, and green can create certain feelings in a design that depend on the culture and natural associations of the viewers. Since I am majoring in graphic design, this lesson will help me when deciding on certain colors for a design. The color choices that I will make when designing something will depend upon the emotion or response I will want for a audience or costumer. With the use of the right colors, I can better convey the message of my designs and create the right emotional response or feeling in the viewer.

David Heath Art and Color Analysis

There were many of David Heath's beautiful masterpieces shown at the recent art show on campus. Many aspects of his paintings contribute to the beauty of his works, including texture, composition, and realism, but the most distinguished aspect is his use of color. He excellently uses hues, values, tints, and shades to convey depth and shape that almost make the picture pop out of the frame.

David Heath's most notable style that is visible in all of his paintings is the way he paints the atmosphere and the sky, which create a sense of distance and stillness in the pictures. One of his most famous paintings, "Morning Light", is a perfect example of how he uses color to create depth. The hues in the painting are of relatively low intensity, and it has an overall bluish hue that brings the whole painting together and adds peace and stillness.
To create depth, he adds a bluish hue to the objects that are farther off into the distance in the painting, which visually pulls the distant mountains and trees back. He then uses an orange hue for the landscape that is closer to the painting's viewpoint. Also, the highlights of light in the trees and water in the painting are made with yellow hues, while shadows and dark areas are made with dark shades of blues and greens. These contrasting colors, although very subtle and of low intensity, are very pleasing to the eye.
Overall, David Heath gorgeously and masterfully uses color in his painting "Morning Light" that convey a sense of peace and beauty, while at the same time create almost perfect realism that makes it seems like you could simply walk into the painting.

Shapes Project

I chose the subject of food, and more specifically fruit, for my shapes project. I developed a still-life type of design and I decided to make to compositions of the same design, one as curvilinear and one as rectilinear.

I definitely learned a lot in this project, most of what I learned was specific problems from working with the materials. I first drew a few quick sketches of my design until I had refined it to the final layout. I then lightly sketched my design on the bristol paper so that I could use that for size and proportion when cutting out my shapes. I used card stock paper for almost all of my project. After I had cut out all of my basic pieces and glued them to the background, I realized that I wanted to add a little depth, so I added shadows and highlights to some of the pieces in the composition.

I learned a few things when I made this project because I hadn't worked very much with these materials before. I learned the differences between certain glues, and how best to use each one(and how not to use them). Also I discovered that tissue paper would be very difficult to glue and cut for this project, so I opted to not use it(after messing up first). Overall, I definitely enjoyed this project and learned how to do better the next time.